


I'm Human, After All.

by victoriousdragon



Category: Re:ゼロから始める異世界生活 | Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World (Anime)
Genre: Drabble, Drabble Collection, Fluff, Hugs, Literal Sleeping Together, Spoilers, Web Novel Content Referenced
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:13:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27550573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/victoriousdragon/pseuds/victoriousdragon
Summary: A collection of fluffy drabbles. Some character-centered, some ship-centered idk? I just love fluff and I feel like the Re:Zero fandom needs more fluff and happy times ok.Contains web novel references past arc 4
Relationships: Beatrice/Natsuki Subaru, Emilia/Natsuki Subaru, Felt/Reinhard Van Astrea, Natsuki Subaru/Rem
Comments: 31
Kudos: 177





	1. That one time Betty mistook drunk Otto for a ghost

**Author's Note:**

> Some chapters are based off web novel material, starting with early arc 5 stuff. So spoiler, I guess?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Betty only confirmed that you were okay, I suppose! Absolutely no such thing like touching your forehead or eyebrows happened, in fact!!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based off Arc 5 Chapter 15, and also inspired by this beautiful fan art: https://imgur.com/r/Re_Zero/M1LQnYc

The water gate city of Pristella was beautiful, truly. The culture, architecture, and landscapes were different from what Beatrice was used to. Being cooped up in that old western-style mansion had set her in her ways. Everything was new and refreshing for her ever since leaving the mansion with her contractor, Subaru. Going outside had introduced her to so many foreign things. Even Subaru was some kind of foreign human, was what Beatrice understood. He had black hair, brown eyes, those slanted, sanpaku almond-shaped eyes. Even his name sounded foreign. Soo..bar...ooo...Naa-tsukee. She was used to western, old-fashioned names like Echidna, Petelguese, Roswaal, Emilia, Anne Rose...

The Water Plumage Pavilion was the name of the hotel that the group was staying at, invited by Anastasia Hoshin. Beatrice had understood that the building was inspired by buildings in Kararagi, perhaps designed by people associated with Hoshin of the Wastes, who was also apparently a foreign human of some sort. Gazing around at the roofing, the sliding doors, the seat cushions meant to be placed on the floors, the robes that the inn visitors wore...it was all so interesting. 

Perhaps more interesting and entertaining was watching her contractor's facial expressions take in all of the surroundings. Beatrice occasionally stole glances towards Subaru, hoping he wouldn't notice, of course. 

Subaru was beaming.

There was some kind of emotion in those scary eyes of his. She wondered what it was. She could see the cogs turning in his head as he would rest a finger on his chin and muse about who-knows-what while staring at the architecture. He would nod or shake his head at things, perhaps comparing what he saw to something else? "It's not quite right," he would mutter under his breath.

The first night at the hotel, Subaru had abandoned Beatrice to do something (probably stupid?), forcing her to spend time with the women of the different camps. Taking a bath, chatting as they relaxed their muscles in the warm water, having an inn worker help them learn how to tie their bath robes, wandering the hallways, making small talk. Yes, small talk! Subaru would be so proud to hear of Beatrice's advancement in communication skills and would write about it in that embarrassing diary of his. Yes, yes.

It was during such small-talk with an inn worker that Beatrice had learned about the possibility of a ghost haunting the hotel at night. Being a spirit herself, Beatrice found the concept of ghosts to be a silly thing that humans liked to tell tales about. But still. The inn worker had done such a good job of convincing her that such a thing was real. Ghosts? Pale, white-robed apparitions of dead, sad humans? Would she be able to sleep peacefully tonight?

After dinner, in the end, she found it easy to fall asleep in her guest room, at first. She had a long day, took in a lot of new information, discovered she didn't like wasabi, and other things. She fell asleep on a large futon-like cushion after chatting a bit with Subaru. She vaguely remembered Subaru leaving her to announce he was going to the baths himself right as she started to fall asleep.

She awoke, perhaps a few hours later, deep in the night. The first things to come to her senses upon waking up was the smell of shampoo coming from Subaru's freshly-bathed hair, and the sound of Subaru's breathing. 

His sleeping face was quite stupid, Beatrice thought. 

Disregarding his stupid face, Beatrice realized what had woken her up was the sound of a wailing moan and the sense that there was some kind of shadow close by. She immediately felt on-edge, quickly getting up from her bed, careful not to step over Subaru. The sound came from somewhere outside. Their guest room was close to a porch area outside where visitors could use to sit around outside before entering the hotel lobby. 

There was a pale figure on the porch. She sensed it. The figure moved slowly, swaying in the darkness of the night, continuing to wail and moan and make other miserable noises. In the back of her head, surely the voice sounded familiar to her, but she wasn't thinking properly at the moment. 

She had to protect Subaru. Protect Subaru from the ghost! It could turn into a fight, if needed. Spirit versus ghost. Beatrice swallowed, steadying herself as the figure continued to sway about. Beatrice glared at the ghost, extending her palm, gathering mana to begin Minya. 

As the mana started to swirl in her palms, doing her best to look cool and intimidating, she noticed the figure shrieked and backed off, retreating away into the night, melting into the darkness. 

"Ah, it ran off. It sensed Betty's power, in fact. A waste of mana, I suppose," Beatrice whispered, gently placing her hand to her chest. 

Everything was fine. There was no trouble. They were safe. 

Sighing, Beatrice retreated back to her hotel room. Her heart was still racing. Just a bit. 

Upon re-entering the guest room, Beatrice had noticed that Subaru had changed his position in his sleep. He was now laying on his side, one hand tucked behind the pillow his head rested on, the other hand tucked in towards his chest. He had his usual black t-shirt on with his tracksuit pants. The t-shirt had ridden up slightly to reveal a small portion of skin of his waist. His knees were slightly bent, relaxed. His breathing was even and steady, causing his chest to gently rise and fall. Carefully, Beatrice stepped over his frame so that she could lay back down next to him. As always. The rustling of cloth against cloth as she pressed her body against the bedding caused Subaru to stir. 

"Bea..ko...?" Subaru groggily whispered, still half-asleep. 

"Go back to sleep, I suppose" Beatrice whispered back as she lay down alongside him. She noticed he had extended his arm out towards her away from his chest, giving her permission to hold his hand so she could drain the leftover mana from him. Their usual nightly ritual. 

Subaru squirmed a bit, feeling the tiny strands of mana leak out from his defective gate. "Ah..." Subaru breathed, voice ragged. "No matter how many times, it still feels...prickly...."

"Stop talking and close your eyes, in fact," Beatrice warned. She placed her free hand on Subaru's forehead, fingers covering his eyes. She focused a little bit of mana into her palm onto his forehead, using a healing spell to make him fall asleep.

"Oi...Beako...that's not fair....I know you're......" 

Subaru's ragged voice trailed off, his lips parted and relaxed, and his head sunk deeper into his pillow, succumbing to sleep. 

"Tomorrow morning, you will praise Betty for protecting you from that ghost, I suppose," Beatrice whispered to the sleeping Subaru. She gently squeezed his hand while she removed the hand that she had placed on his forehead, revealing his closed eyelids, long eyelashes scattered against his cheeks. 

Just a bit. She stared at his sleeping face for just a bit. He looked peaceful tonight. Sometimes, he would toss and turn and make such pained expressions in his sleep, sometimes whimpering or groaning. Sometimes he had nightmares, and sometimes he would scratch at his arms or try to pull on his hair. When those occurrences happened, she was always there right away to hold his hand or heal him or press her fingers against his eyebrows so that they wouldn't turn downwards in pain. But tonight, it seemed he had a good day. Perhaps he enjoyed himself doing whatever probably stupid things him and the men had gotten themselves into that night. She wanted to stare. Just a bit longer. 

Eventually, she closed her eyes too, letting sleep capture them both. She knew she was never alone, as was he. This was enough to be content with. To let the morning come and reach out for another new day.

\--------

\--

Subaru: "So what happened last night, Otto?" 

Otto: "Ah, I remember now. As I lay on the porch, still on the verge of vomiting, I noticed that Beatrice-chan was staring at me, but I was unable to speak at the time. Finally, I couldn't hold back and went to vomit in the bushes, and once I'd come back, she'd vanished."

Subaru: "That would be it, then."

\-----

\--

\--


	2. Felt's Refusal of the "My Fair Lady Makeover" Route!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The poor orphan girl from the slums gets the royal makeover treatment. 
> 
> Nope, she's not having it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> takes place some time after Felt gets taken away from the slums by Reinhard in the epilogue of volume 1/before the big Candidate Meeting that takes place in Arc 3, volume 4 of the light novel
> 
> characterizations of Reinhard and Felt will most likely be out of character, but I'm trying, ok? so go easy on me. XD

The House of Astrea is one of the most acclaimed noble Houses in the Kingdom of Lugunica. The family's emblem is purple and gold, bearing the Dragon.

"..."

The first thing Felt saw upon opening her eyes was that emblem, hanging on a large wall crest flag draped from the top of an unfamiliar stone ceiling.

When she awoke, she realized she was laying in an unfamiliar bed. It was too soft. Too many cushions. She preferred her little cot she made for herself back in the slums.

 _The slums!_ Felt started to remember, clearing the fog in her brain. _The loot house. The scary, twisted gut hunter lady. Panic. A fierce battle under the full moon._ Then, at last, she remembered the most important part. _Old Man Rom!_

The old grandfather-like giant, whom she endearingly called Old Man Rom. She remembered him falling unconscious, and she had held onto him, worrying he would leave her. But she knew he was okay. He had been healed. That big sister half-elf lady had healed him. And then once the scary gut lady was gone, the big brother guy named Subaru had passed out, too. The cut to his stomach was absolutely disgusting-looking. But the half-elf lady healed him too and was talking to the guy who saved all their lives. The hero with the flame-colored hair.

Reinhard van Astrea, the Sword Saint.

Upon handing back the stolen insignia to big sister Emilia, that guy Reinhard had suddenly grabbed her wrist and insisted he had to take her back to the city. Something about "it couldn't be dismissed." Annoyed and un-wanting to cooperate, wanting to stay with her family, the guy... _Did he really??_ He knocked her out! He drained her energy, probably using one of his Divine Blessings, and the next thing she knew, she was here. Fully awake now, she immediately sat up from the bed, heart-racing in panic mixed with annoyance and anger towards the man. She had to find him and punch him!

"...!!!"

"Ah, Lady Felt! You're awake!"

"Felt-sama! You mustn't leave yet!"

There were two distinct female voices close by, standing at the edge of the too-soft bed that Felt was just laying in. They could be regarded as ladies-in-waiting, or maids of the Astrea manor. They both appeared to be children, perhaps half of Felt's age, with short hair and similar features. Why were they addressing her with -sama?!

Felt got to her feet, barefoot and with the length of a long nightgown swaying close to the cold, tiled floor. This was some kind of guest room of the manor, furnished with a bed, a small nightstand, and a vanity table against the stone brick wall.

"I gotta thwack that man in the face! Damn it, where's my things? Where's my knife?" Felt yelled, dashing out of the guest room in a frenzy of rage. "Reinhard!!"

The two ladies-in-waiting followed after her, breaking into a run to keep up with their guest.

Felt didn't know where she was going, of course. Dashing down two different sets of hallways, she immediately realized she was already lost, so her feet skidded to a stop.

"Haaah...finally caught up...haahhh....Felt-sama..." the maids called out from behind. "Don't just escape like that. We have to...haah..."

~Grumble~

"..."

Felt's stomach made a loud rumbling noise. In fact, part of the reason she stopped running was because she smelled food close by. The hallway she was currently in must have led to the dining hall or kitchen. She could smell the aromas of hashed tatoes, abble tarts, all sorts of foods she knew would be delicious, even if she had never tasted many of them before. She sniffed the air, letting her nose lead her to the double-doors located to her left. Her hunger took over. She caved in, reached out her hand, and turned the brass knob to open the door. 

And, of course, there to greet her was the man who led her here. Reinhard.

Blue eyes locked with hers, and he immediately bowed his head and gave her a gentle smile.

He was standing by a buffet table of sorts, holding a plate of artfully-assembled breakfast foods. This room was made of tile, too, with a large, grand wooden dining table in the center. Against the stone walls were other buffet tables, displaying all sorts of things. There was a chandelier on the ceiling, and the walls were decorated with more crest flags that had the Astrea emblem on them.

"Please forgive my rudeness last night, Felt-sama. I hope you enjoy your stay here as we sort some things out with you," Reinhard stated, placing the plate he assembled on the dining table. "You are in the House of Astrea, of course. I've prepared a plate for you to eat. You can sit anywhere you like."

Reinhard was displaying his gentlemanly, nice-guy behavior towards her. It irked her. And dammit, why was he also calling her Felt-sama?!

"Ah, I can sense your animosity towards me," Reinhard signed. "I understand. But please enjoy some breakfast first."

With that, he motioned for her to have a seat at the dining table, respectfully bowed again, and turned his back just for a moment to fix his own plate of food. 

So of course, in that moment of having his back turned to her, Felt flew off the floor with a kick!!

...which she was aiming for, but the guy was probably two steps ahead of her, as he gently grabbed and released her ankle mid-air, sending her comically flying across the room and landing right into a chair which just-so happened to be directly in front of the prepared plate of food.

"Argh!! Damn it, you!!" Felt screamed, kicking her feet underneath the table, flailing her arms about. Her stomach grumbled again as if to argue against her and put a halt to her complaining thoughts. 

"Yes, I get the feeling you're going to curse me a lot from now on," Reinhard sighed, his back to her again, this time peacefully assembling his own plate without any surprise attacks (not like he could ever succumb to surprise attacks, of course). When he turned back around, making his way to the table to eat with her, he observed her...vivacious way of eating.

Felt was an orphan from the slums, after all. So of course she wouldn't be accustomed to things like how to eat with silverware, how to sit in a chair, how to present herself in a more..lady-like fashion.

Reinhard saw potential in her. She did make that insignia glow. No doubt, she was a candidate to the throne. She even had physical features of the royal Lugunica family with those red eyes and golden hair of hers. She appeared to be about 14 or 15 years of age, too, which lined up with the timing of a certain princess's disappearance. But enough about that. It couldn't be proved. 

"Eating with your hands and slouched over like that..."Reinhard started,"It would be in your best interest to get you properly trained..."

Munching on a butter roll, she muffled "properly trained?!!"

"Please don't eat with your mouth full..."

"mmff!!"

\----

And so began Felt's first month in the Astrea House's manor.

She was told that she had to be prepared for some big ceremony that was coming up in the capital. Reinhard wouldn't go in detail about it, and it was just another thing added to her list of things about him that annoyed her. He was gone a lot, too, being a knight of the kingdom and all. Patrol work, training with the other knights in preparation for the ceremony, occasionally disappearing at odd hours of the day and night to respond to a citizen in need, blah blah. Sword Saint stuff. Why bring her here, if he couldn't even be there half the time? She wanted to kick him, but no matter how many times she tried, no matter the angle, he would send her flying off somewhere, unharmed. 

So while staying at the manor, Felt had been learning the ways of the nobles, whom were the class of people she downright hated. Reinhard had told her that her position in society had suddenly changed, and that she was going to have to behave accordingly. The two maids with her had been assigned as not just ladies-in-waiting, but in teaching her all kinds of dumb etiquette stuff, drawing her bath water for her, helping her get dressed in complicated gowns, brushing her unkept hair, et cetera.

One night, getting close to the day of the big ceremony event, Felt had decided she had enough.

She missed Old Man Rom. She missed having her freedom, walking around the slums whenever she wanted, stealing food or finding ways to make money how she wanted. Drinking Rom's milk down at the loot house, going to bed when she wanted. Those kinds of things.

In the middle of the night, with no one following her, Felt made her escape out of her guest room, and had learned enough of the manor's floor plan at that point to map out her escape route.

She couldn't just leave out from the foyer of the manor. That would be too conspicuous. She couldn't escape from the back door to the garden for the same reason, and there were no windows in her bedroom. 

So she quietly made her way to a winding hallway that led to a bath room on the second floor. There was a small window in one of the guest bath rooms, a window just small enough that Felt could fit in. She opened the window with ease, and was able to squeeze her way out. The fresh early morning air hitting her skin was cold and crisp. Her feet gripped the roof tiles, she steadied herself, ready to gracefully jump off the roof using her wind-related divine protection, and-

"So its come to this," said a low voice from below her. 

"What the hell, why are you out this late?!" Felt yelled, clutching a hand to her chest, the other hand gripping the wall behind her to keep her balance on the roof.

"I could ask you the same, Felt-sama," Reinhard replied. Tired. His voice sounded tired. Reinhard was standing in the front yard garden, just outside the window she escaped from. He was looking up at her. She thought his blue eyes looked kind of sad.

"What have you been up to this time?" Felt asked, willing to have a conversation from above him like this. "Who did you save this time, huh? Who was the attacker? Was it a thief, a con-artist, a mabeast?"

"All of the above," Reinhard simply replied. This guy was a monster. He really was the strongest. Extending his arms out, he continued,"And now, returning home from the end of my shift, I have to deal with a runaway who I utterly cannot let escape. Come down here. I'll catch you," he demanded calmly.

"Nope, my fall will break your arms," Felt called back, gesturing her arms in an X pose. "No can-do. I'm prepared to leave this place."

"I assure you, you can't hurt me or break my arms," he sighed. "Why are you set on leaving? Have I not given you proper hospitality, Felt-sama?"

"Damn it, its that attitude of yours!" Felt yelled, aggravated. "I mean, what's with you?! You kidnap me, drop me off here while you go off saving people or whatever, and then I'm stuck here having to learn how to act like one of those pompous rats who control the city...Ugh! I don't get it!"

Felt stomped on the roof, continuing,"These dresses ya'all make me wear don't feel right! The maids keep giving me makeovers and trying to make me look and act like someone I don't know...and! And! I miss Old Man Rom..."

She had tears in her eyes. Frustrated, she started crying. This was dumb. She wanted to go home.

She wiped her cheeks, clenching her jaw, sniffling to keep the snot in her nose.

Reinhard looked away from her. "Ah, I'm really bad at this kind of thing..." 

Felt quietly sobbed on the roof by herself, while an awkward Reinhard was facing an internal conflict with himself. 

"I wish there was something I could do to ease your worries...Perhaps we can go looking for your beloved grandfather once the ceremony event has concluded?" Reinhard pondered, placing a hand on his chin. "I could gather some information about him during my next patrol." 

Hope flickered in Felt's chest. She raised her head up from burying it into her arms. 

"Maybe we can settle for something more comfortable for your dress, too. We'll have to get it custom-made for you. Maybe we can add some features to it for more ease of movement?" 

"..."

"And I would never wish to change who you are. I apologize if I have forced you to feel that way. Not to mention I need to properly explain to you what is about to take place at this ceremony. My apologies, Felt-sama."

"Reinhard...You..."

"Let's put all our cards out on the table, shall we? You can confide in me to hear you out, and I will do my best to listen and understand."

"Eh? What are you saying now?"

"...I would like you to trust me. Because, well, I am prepared to serve you."

"Serve...me?"

"Yes, serve you. Aid you to succeed the throne. Comfort you, listen to you, follow you. I will be your Knight." 

Reinhard stared up at Felt again from his position below. His blue eyes were piercing, unwavering. 

"I shall devote my sword to you. After all, that's all that I can do. That's all that I am," Reinhard stated. He looked down at his feet for a moment, eyes sad again, and then went back to keeping his expression neutral when he brought his attention back to her. 

"Ah," Felt stared at him, incredulous. "There it is." 

"Huh?"

Just then, Felt sprung her feet off the roof, ready to land. Without thinking about it, Reinhard extended his arms out to catch her from his position below. 

Wham!

Reinhard had easily caught the falling Felt into his arms, but in the process of having the force of her body attack his arms, she had karate-chopped the top of his head on the way down. It didn't hurt, of course. Nor did it surprise him at all. 

"Umm? What was that for?" Reinhard asked, wincing an eye shut even though he certainly wasn't at all affected by her.

"Reinhard! You...are kind of an idiot?!" Felt yelled. "You are untruthful to yourself. I don't get it. I guess that makes me an idiot, too. But..."

Felt smiled at Reinhard. He had an unusual expression.

"But. Umm. Reinhard. You say you'll be my sword. And you kind of carry yourself as if you exist just to be a weapon for people to use. In fact, most times I really do think of you as a monster. Really. Like, what are things you can't do? But I get it now."

"Felt-sama?"

"You are human, after all! I see it in your eyes. You look sad sometimes, did you know that? And right before this, I could tell that you were tired. You're not just a weapon, you're not just some knight or the Sword Saint. You are a human, and just from the short while I've stayed here, I can tell you have your own troubles too, especially with your family, huh? If you're...going to be my knight and let me confide in you, then I would like for you to confide in me, too."

"..."

"So...if you're going to be my knight, go ahead. Promise me all those things. And on my end, I will overwork ya until those emotions of yours are ready to be squeezed out."

Felt gave Reinhard her snaggle-toothed grin, giving the top of his head another karate chop for good measure. 

"So...let's shake on it, yeah? Reinhard, you fool. Be my knight."

There was a gentleness in his eyes as he nodded his head in affirmation. 

"Yes, of course. I will revere you as my queen,"Reinhard replied, still carrying her in his arms. Fixing the position of holding her so that he could carry her with one arm, he reached out his free hand to offer Felt a solid hand shake. 

And with that, they made their way back into the manor, ready to embrace whatever was to come.


	3. Eyes like His

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wilhelm had once told Emilia that her eyes were "the same as his" referring to Subaru. Emilia, not knowing what her own eyes looked like, wasn't sure how to take that at first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Contains some arc 4 spoilers, so beware~ 
> 
> Wanted to write some inner ramblings that Emilia might have~~~

\---

Emilia had never seen her reflection, not even once, upon waking up in the Elior Forest. She knew she had silver hair, of course, and that she was a half-elf. She also apparently looked like the Witch of Envy, though there was no way to tell what that witch looked like. She was also well-aware that her body was different, far different from the child frame that she was so used to before the freeze.

Upon seeing her new reflection after the second trial of the Sanctuary, Emilia recalled being disappointed at first. She had hoped she would look more like Fortuna. Mother Fortuna was the prettiest woman in her eyes. Why couldn't she look more like her?

In other parts of her appearance, she was rather relieved. She didn't have pimples or moles or spots on her face. She would feel sooo embarrassed if there was something on her face and no one pointed it out. She was also content with the slight amount of muscle she had built up. It made her feel like she could support her own weight, that she could be depended on.

And then there were the things that Emilia couldn't agree with or accept as something beautiful. Namely, the things that made her so harshly judged. So discriminated against. So hated. 

Her ears, for being a half-elf, her silver hair, and her purple-blue eyes. 

She couldn't do anything to change those qualities. Before being given the special cloak that would make her inconspicuous to outsiders, she would have Puck tie a braid crown that could rest over the tips of her ears. She had also considered disguising her hair by covering it in mud or chopping it off. Puck, and later Subaru, absolutely refused to let her do anything with her hair. And as for her eyes, she had asked both Puck and Roswaal how to use magic to change her eye color, but she was told it was too high a level of magic to accomplish it through regular means.

And so, that was her dilemma.

Subaru would tell her things like "Emilia-tan, your eyes are like gem stones! I could stare at them all day!" Or "Your hair looks so goddess-like, especially under the moonlight! I'm entranced!" And then there were the times he did that "ee em tee" thing where he called her an angel or a goddess. He called her a fairy once too, but that one didn't work out the way he intended.

Subaru liked to touch her hair too, sometimes offering to braid it for her. She appreciated that he would always ask first if he could touch it, and seemed especially careful around her ears, making sure his fingers didn't brush against them while gathering her hair. Puck was careful about things like that too, back when he was the one who groomed her.

There was a time once in Arlem Village where the children wanted to play with her hair, and Emilia remembered how Subaru had overreacted, roaring and stomping his feet around to chase them away as if he were an angry ground dragon. By child logic, that seemed to do the trick in warning them not to mess with her hair. 

Subaru was quite good with children, wasn't he? He was sooo kind to them. Even if they stuffed his pant pockets with bugs or rubbed snot on his jacket sleeves, he would act mad at first but then would smile about it. 

Emilia especially enjoyed how his eyes looked when he smiled like that. Those scary eyes of his would soften, and the brown color of his irises would look so warm and light. Emilia would stare at him from afar to appreciate him. He had really kind eyes, even if they looked sad sometimes. 

So it caught her off guard when Wilhem-san had brought up the topic of her eyes that one time, as she waited in that dragon carriage with the Arlam children, getting ready to retreat from the Roswaal mansion. 

"Lord and retainer truly are alike--your eyes are just like his."

That was what a parting Wilhelm had remarked, turning his back away from her. Emilia did not know the true intent behind the murmur at the time. She still wasn't quite sure.

But she would like to think that maybe her eyes looked like that, too. Maybe her eyes could be warm and gentle like his, in her own way. Even if her amethyst eyes could be seen as cold or witch-like. Even if most people hated her eyes.

When she watched Subaru like this, smiling gently, she thought maybe she could be seen in that way too. 

It wasn't acceptance, yet. No, but it was a start. 

She saw Wilhelm's words as a compliment. 

She wanted to have kind eyes, too. The kind that could softly reach anyone. 

__


	4. Love at First Sight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sort-of Patrache POV of the day she met Subaru during Arc 3, light novel volume 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly I just wanted to write about Best Girl. This one is really short.
> 
> Subaru x Patrasche forever~~~

-

Patrache was a beautiful, black ground dragon of the Diana species, who were a breed known for being feisty and proud. She had been bred and trained to be a strong, supportive ground dragon intended for traveling with cargo as well as for running well in battle.

When she was born, she understood that she wasn't the largest or bulkiest of her dragon siblings. She ate and grew up well, blossoming into a praise-worthy dragon. Her Divine Protection of Wind Evasion was quite strong, and the trainer who had sold her to the Crucshe family could speak nothing but good things about her. She soaked it up.

For a while, she was kept in the stables of the Crucshe manor, longing to run freely by someone deserving of her. Gradually, more land dragons occupied the manor's stables as people were preparing for a great battle with the White Whale.

On one sunny day, a gathering of men had pulled out all the ground dragons from their stables, lining them up in a field area just outside the side gates of the property. One by one, warrior men would approach the dragons, picking a creature to ride on for their grand adventure. 

It was on this day that Patrasche locked eyes with a certain boy. He was skinny, he didn't wear any kind of protective armor, and he just generally gave off the impression that he was average, even weak. He had jet black hair, kind of unkempt. The clothes he wore were weird. She couldn't understand human speech, but the way he talked sounded weird, too. He kept a smile on his face, which didn't seem to quite reach him. There was something about him. 

His brown eyes looked into her golden ones for the first time. Time stood still. She could only gaze at him, calmly waiting to be picked. 

This was it. This was it. This boy was going to pick her. Pick her. She wanted to be picked.

The boy had said some weird human words to her, and then he naturally reached out his right hand towards her. She had already decided she wasn't going to eat his hand. 

Gently as she could, she nuzzled her snout against the boy's hand. Right away, he looked content, saying some more muffled human language stuff that she couldn't understand. It was at that moment that she and him both had the same thought in their heads.

"It's love at first sight."

-


	5. Hugs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A chapter full of hugs. 
> 
> Takes place some time during arc 3, I guess? before the royal selection stuff. pre-despair lol.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ITS FLUFF TIME~~~!!!

-

Hugs release hormones in the brain, like oxytocin and dopamine that make people feel good. 

Subaru remembered reading about that when he had to take Biology in high school. Oxytocin was what attached the mother to her baby and other things like that, and dopamine was the happy hormone that made people abuse dangerous things.

Subaru stopped caring about going to school, but he still was interested in science-related stuff like the stars and their many constellations and the human body. He would study those kinds of things even when he had given up on school and stayed home. He still had his textbooks, after all.

So, he felt it was sort of ironic how he had to apply his knowledge of those things he learned back in Japan to this new world. He figured the stuff he knew about the constellations was never going to be useful in his life at all, and yet it was proving to help him solve things about the Archbishops of Sin. And as for his random bits of knowledge about the human body, he had literally seen the inside of his own body on multiple occasions during deaths. He could, unfortunately, explain what the intestines looked like, what torn-through tissues and ligaments looked like, how it felt to be burned alive, eaten alive...the list could go on. He learned way more than he ever wanted to.

-

On one occasion in the Forbidden Library of the old Roswaal mansion, Subaru had come across a medical book of this new world. He could read the words now, but he thought it funny how he still couldn't pronounce the medical terms. The words this world used weren't the Latin-based loan words he had learned in Japan. Yet, he still could figure out what each word meant just based off diagrams or context clues.

"Wow, the human brain sure is complex," Subaru sighed, placing the book he was reading back in its spot in the bookshelf in front of him. "Hey Beako, did you know that our brains release chemicals that make us feel happy when we have physical contact with others? Stuff like hugs, or even shoulder pats. Isn't that neat?"

Subaru liked to visit the library at least once a day if he could, so he could check up on the drill loli who resided there, always perched up in her little bench. Today, like always, she appeared annoyed that he was there, so he had picked a random book to read from the shelves and kept quiet.

"Why is this fly still in here, I suppose? Shoo, shoo," replied Betty, waving her hands. "Go ramble about that to someone else. Betty is not human herself, so she has no interest in that topic, I suppose."

"Eh?! Beako, you're not human? Then what are you, a Demi-human? Do you secretly have cat ears and a tail that I don't know about? Lemme see, lemme see!" replied Subaru, groping his hands in the air. "Well, now that I think about it, you do call Puck 'Bubby' right? So that little cat is like a brother to you? Hmm, hmm."

It was at that moment that Beatrice sent Subaru flying out of the library doors, landing ungracefully in the garden bushes again, screaming, "Buenos Aires!!"

\--

-

A pink-haired maid had observed a flying man falling out of the second floor of her master's mansion. A harsh 'thud' could be heard from outside in the garden. No question, it was that fool of a man.

The man had landed in the bushes on his knees, with his bum sticking up. His head was in the dirt.

"Get out of that sorry position, Barusu," Ram calmly directed. "Ram has no interest in doing things like that with you."

"Why do you always think the worst of me?!" Subaru retorted back, quickly getting to his feet and patting the dirt off his tracksuit.

Ram had a triumphant sneer on her face, huffing out a little "hah!"

Subaru lowered his eyelids and scrunched down his eyebrows in displeasure. He was about to turn on his heels and walk away from exchanging any more words with Ram. Subaru didn't want to get on anyone else's bad side. He was already thinking over how he was going to have to apologize to Beatrice later. He was also mulling over how he was going to have to hand-wash the dirt stains off his track pants.

"If something is troubling you, Barusu, then no doubt it was you who caused the trouble in the first place. Kindly reflect on your poor life decisions and leave," said Ram in her cold voice, crossing her arms. Indeed, Subaru was about to do just that, when-

"Onee-sama, onee-sama, I've come to fetch you to start on preparations for dinner."

Rem had unknowingly come to Subaru's rescue. The sound of the younger sister's voice had caused Ram to relax her shoulders, uncrossing her arms. Subaru relaxed himself too, exclaiming "Nice save, Rem!" towards the blue-haired twin maid, throwing a thumbs-up in her direction. Rem gently smiled back.

"Ah, Subaru-kun. It seems Lady Beatrice has thrown you out the library again," Rem calmly observed. "Shall I assist you in washing your muddy clothes?"

"No, its okay," Subaru replied, scratching the back of his head apologetically,"Just as Ramu-cchi said, it's my own fault for messing up the garden again. So...I'll just go take my leave now."

With that, a dejected-looking Subaru walked away from the maids, rubbing his backside in pain. Rem could hear him mumbling things to himself. 

"I will leave before you and start on dinner, so if you wish to go help that sorry man, I will allow it just this once," said Ram, gazing at her sister's worried expression. Rem looked up at her in surprise, relief washing over her face. 

"Thank you, onee-sama," Rem replied, immediately bringing Ram into her arms to embrace her. She rubbed her cheek against Ram's, squeezing her tightly. Ram kept her face neutral, allowing her body to be hugged by her adorable younger sister. Once they released from their embrace, Ram carried a gentle smile on her lips that no one could see as she made her way to the kitchen.

\---

-

-

Meanwhile, a flustered Beatrice had paced back and forth within her library.

Shortly after forcing the pest out of her room, she found that she couldn't concentrate anymore on the current book she was reading. The library was so quiet. Beatrice liked the quiet. She had 400 years worth of quiet times in this library. And yet, at this moment, all she could hear buzzing in her ears was that foolish man's voice, even after he was long gone. 

She wanted to be left alone to vent by herself, and yet, she also wanted someone there to vent to. So bothersome. So annoying. So weak.

"Why is he...Why can't he just.." Beatrice's voice trailed off, clenching her fists, facing the wooden door that she was so afraid would be burst-open any second. 

She didn't want him to open that door. Don't open it. Don't just burst in again. Leave Betty alone. 

Creak.

The door opened.

Her heart immediately fluttered. Some small part of her was disappointed, though.

"Bubby!" Beatrice squealed. Puck had smoothly entered the Forbidden Library, floating about, his cat tail swinging. 

"Yo, Beatrice!" replied the spirit cat, waving a paw. "Lia told me to check on you. She says she saw Subaru get kicked out of here again from her window while she was studying."

Beatrice grimaced. Puck's contractor was an observant one. She chose to not interact with that girl. Although she was thankful that the half-elf had asked her spirit to check on her.

"Hey, Bubby," Beatrice started, clutching a hand to her chest,"How do you feel when...that contractor of yours hugs you, in fact?"

"Eh? That's an odd question to start with," replied a mildly shocked Puck. "But I must say, hugging Lia is one of the best feelings in the world!"

Puck did a little twirl in the air, hugging himself with his little arms. "Hugs make you feel so good, you know? Its common sense that I would feel that way. She's my cherished daughter, after all."

He had a proud look on his face. Beatrice stared at him.

"Did I...say something wrong?" asked Puck, tilting his head.

"Not at all, in fact," Beatrice replied. "Just a thought I had. Bubby, could I hug you?"

"Of course! Ugh, wait! I'm worried! Did that Subaru try to do something to you?" Puck exclaimed, flying into Beatrice's arms.

Beatrice tightly squeezed Puck in her arms against her chest, affectionately petting his soft fur. She didn't reply, relishing in the feeling of having Puck in her arms. 

Ah, they were right, Betty thought. Hugs do make you feel good. 

Somewhere, in a deep, closed part of her heart, she faintly remembered how it felt to have her mother hug her. She hadn't been hugged by a human in so long. Maybe, just maybe, one day, Betty could allow her chosen person to hug her, too.

\--

-

-

"Subaru-kun!"

Rem had called out to the black-haired boy, whose back looked like it was carrying the world. His shoulders were sunken so low, his head was pointed downwards towards the soil. He continued to walk forward in the direction of his guest room on the east side of the mansion. He was still outside in the gardens of the mansion's courtyard. 

"Subaru-kun!"

The boy's shoulders jumped up in natural shock at hearing his name being called from behind. 

"Rem?"

He turned around, lifting his head up from the ground. He stopped walking so she could run up to him and catch up. He stuffed his hands in his track suit pockets, quietly waiting for her. A little bit of light had returned to his eyes. The golden light of the late afternoon cast against his features, giving a warmth to his face. Rem wanted to etch that look into her memory. She at last caught up to him, choosing to quickly close the space between them and-

"Eh?! Rem? Why are you hugging me, all of a sudden?" Subaru shouted, over-reacting in his usual way. He hesitantly took his hands out of his pockets, lifting them up to wrap his arms around Rem's shoulders.

"Because you looked so defeated after Lady Beatrice kicked you out again. Subaru-kun looked like he needed a hug," Rem replied matter-of-factly. 

"So its a Hug of Pity?!" Subaru shouted. "Did I look that pitiful?!"

Rem nodded her head calmly, releasing herself from the hug. "Yes, you did. Do you feel better now?"

Subaru gulped, resting his hands on her shoulders, facing her. He took a deep breath and let it out.

"Yes. Yes, I do. Thanks, Rem," Subaru smiled. He pat her shoulders and nodded, and the sad look in his eyes was replaced with a determined, confident gaze. Rem snapped another mental photo into her memory. This was her favorite expression of his.

"Hugs really do make you feel good, aaah!" Subaru shouted happily, stepping away from Rem. Shooting her another thumbs-up of the day and saying one last 'thanks Rem!', he suddenly started running, making his way back to the mansion. Rem let him go. She needed to go help her sister, after all. 

"Gotta go find that drill loli and burst down that door, damn it!" Subaru shouted to himself while dashing into the hallways of the mansion. "I'm gonna pull on that smug girl's drills and lift her into my arms for a bear hug! Even if she kicks me out again! As many times as necessary!"

\--

-

As dinner was served that night, everyone had noticed Subaru's tracksuit was even dirtier than before and all had heard yet another crash resound throughout the grounds of the mansion that night. No one said anything as they enjoyed their dinner.

-


	6. A Birthday, a Sleepover, and ...'The Talk'?!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Subaru turns 18, Emilia has an impromptu "girl's only!" sleepover party after the birthday festivities, and Emilia learns how babies are made. Nope, not by kissing.
> 
> ***Arc 4/5 spoilers***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Subaru turned 18 during the time skip from Arc 4 to Arc 5, so I just wanted to explore this~ FLUFF TIME!
> 
> ...also some second-hand embarrassment going on here...sorry, I felt it needed to happen somehow. XD
> 
> Thank you for the lovely comments!

-

It was a grey, rainy morning on April 1st at the main manor of Roswaal L. Mathers.

The pattering of rain against the windows and roof could be heard throughout the mansion. Low claps of thunder occasionally sounded off in the far distance of the capital of Lugnica. In a lightly-furnished guest bedroom on a full-size bed, there lay a large bundle of thick blankets. No, the large bundle of blankets was actually a person. Somewhere in that mess of bundled blankets was Natsuki Subaru.

Everything was comfy. The rain sounds were nice, the blankets were warm. Subaru didn't want to get up yet, so he lay there for a bit, wiggling his toes under the covers, keeping his eyes closed. This was nice. He let his thoughts roam around in his head, aware in the back of his mind that Beatrice wasn't there with him. She must have gotten up long before him, since there was no warmth on the other half of the mattress. He wondered what time it was, figuring he probably slept through breakfast. He had already gotten up early for parkour training and radio calisthenics, but when he realized it was raining outside, he gave up on morning training and fell back asleep.

"Ah, do you think he's still sleeping in there? I mean...it's way past noon...?" a bell-like female voice muffled just outside the closed bedroom door.

"Uh, Emilia-sama, don't go in! Natsuki-san is a growing teenage guy, after all!" a male's shaking voice muffled back. "Allow me to check for you, it would be best if-"

"Eh? I don't understand? What does being a teenager have to do with seeing if Subaru's awake?"

"Hasn't Frederica explained that stuff to you yet?!!"

Clearly, Emilia and Otto were just outside Subaru's bedroom door. Sighing, Subaru sat himself up on his bed, placing his feet on the ground, clearing his throat, preparing himself.

"Hai hai, quit your bickering, you two! Otto, stop making my Emilia-tan question things you're not willing to answer!" yelled Subaru, walking over to turn the door handle. "But also, uh, thank you for your consideration," he said lowly, twisting the knob.

"Doesn't that mean you're not willing to answer those questions either, Natsuki-san?!" Otto yelled back from behind the door.

"Hk-"

Subaru's hand froze on the handle. Otto had a point. He wasn't prepared for that kind of stuff. He knew Emilia wasn't, either, with her mental age and all. Anyway, he opened the door.

What greeted him when he swung his door open was a handful of eager-looking faces and a clown.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" 

From closest to furthest, the faces of Otto, Emilia, Beatrice, and Roswaal were all there, out in the hallway. The only ones missing were the three maids, Rem, and Garfiel.

Subaru would be delighted and touched about this, if it weren't for the super embarrassing conversation they all probably just overheard. He violently shook his head side-to-side a few times, forcing his cheeks to stop flushing. 

"Thanks, everyone," Subaru nervously smiled, scratching his cheek. "It really means a lot." 

"My myyyy, Subaru-kun, so you really werrreee sleeping in there? It appeeaarrss the man of the hour himself is the only one noooot prepared for the festivities," said Roswaal, resting a hand on his cheek.

_Festivities?!_

"Betty remembers the things Subaru has said about birthdays from his home place, in fact," replied Beatrice, wearing her usual red, frilly dress. The key difference to her look today was that in addition to wearing her little crown atop her head, she also had a pointed cone-shaped birthday hat perched on the other side of her head. Subaru instantly thought that she looked adorable.

"Wait, what festivities?" Subaru asked nervously. "Where I'm from, all we do on birthdays is have dinner and a cake..."

"Eh?!" gasped Emilia, covering her mouth in worried shock. "But Beatrice-chan said you told her about having a party with snacks and games and hitting a stuffed toy full of sweets and..."

"Aww man, I must have been mumbling about anime and visual novel tropes again..." sighed Subaru, scratching his head. "Japan doesn't really do all that western stuff. We just like to fantasize about it, geez. My past life as a NEET still gets brought up, huh..."

"Sorry, I don't understand most of what you just said," replied Emilia. "But anyway! This way, no getting out of this!"

Emilia quickly grasped Subaru's hand, pulling him out of his room, walking at a brisk pace down the hallway. Otto and Roswaal had suddenly disappeared during this exchange.

"Wait, wait, Emilia-tan!" yelled a flustered Subaru, getting pulled all the way from the bedroom corridor to the dining hall. "C-Can we slow down a little?! I haven't gone to the toilet yet or washed my face, and now you're holding my hand like this when I wasn't prepared for it and-"

"That can wait, in fact. We don't want to keep the others waiting any longer," calmly replied Beatrice, holding his other hand as they walked.

They came to a halt right in front of the closed double doors to the manor's grand dining hall. 

"We have him captured in our grasp, unable to escape, I suppose!" yelled Beatrice, presumably to whoever was on the other side of the doors.

"...You make me sound like a war criminal..."

Ignoring Subaru's remark, the double doors flung open from inside.

 _Wh_ _oosh!_

"SURPRISE!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Greeting the trio on the other side of the door was the entire Emilia camp. Otto and Roswaal had snuck their way back to the dining room, Garfiel was staring excitedly at his captain, the maids Frederica and Petra were the two who opened the double doors, Ram had her palms filled with something, and the sleeping Rem was gently placed to sit in one of the dining room chairs.

Upon entering the room, little pieces of colored paper confetti were thrown right in front of Subaru's face. A piece or two landed in Subaru's mouth. He spit them out dramatically, stomping his foot to the ground in minor annoyance. _Oi, what gives? Who did this?_

Directly in front of Subaru, the culprit to the confetti crime, was none other than a satisfied-looking Ram.

"Hah!" the pink-haired maid proudly huffed. "Even a fool such as Barusu at least deserves a mess of trash thrown in his face. Kindly clean it up immediately."

"But you're the one who threw it?!" Subaru shouted back. The group all had a good laugh about it, though a brave Petra asked Ram to be nicer to Subaru while she ran off to fetch a broom and dustpan. After some more bantering and light exchange, Subaru observed the dining room further.

The grand dining table was already set with snacks and finger foods. Frederica advised everyone not to stuff themselves too much since they were already working on preparing a nice dinner. A small buffet table sat against one of the walls, and perched on that table was an assortment of sweets, pastries, and a cake. Wow, what a cute cake. It was a white cream cake with red fruit that resembled strawberries, just like the ones Subaru was used to. He was really touched.

The next thing Subaru noticed was a...chandelier? No, was it some sort of hanging ice sculpture in the room? It sparkled like a disco ball, but it was sort of spiky, like maybe it was supposed to be in the shape of an animal? Subaru thought it sort of resembled that snow sculpture Emilia had made last year when Puck had to release all that mana into the old mansion. He walked up closer to the hanging ice object, inspecting it. There were...wrapped candies inside of it's empty shell? No wait, was this a-?

"Ah, do you like what Emilia-sama made, Subaru-sama?" asked Frederica from somewhere behind him, covering her toothy smile with her hands. "I watched her craft it with her Ice Brand Arts. Its quite interesting, isn't it?"

_Its a piñata?! For real?!_

"Oi, Captain! I see Big Sis and ya r'looking at the game piece!" yelled Garfiel, running up to him. His youthful, green eyes were sparkling in anticipation. "When can we play with it, hah? Can we start now?"

"Well, we need some kind of stick to hit it with. Petra, can we use your broom?" replied Subaru, placing a hand on his chin in thought. A startled but eager Petra accepted, handing him her broom. Everyone in the dining room stopped what they were doing to observe the birthday boy holding an upside-down broom. Noticing this sudden attention, Subaru puffed up his chest and took a deep breath.

"Attention, everyone!" Subaru announced in a dramatic voice, striking a pose as if he had a microphone. "I present to you a game from...Spain? No, some say it originated in China? Anyway! All you have to do it hit this hanging object here to get to the candies inside! If you wanna participate, get in line. Everyone gets three swings each! Also, some people blindfold themselves to max up the difficulty level, but uh, this is Emilia's mana we're talking about here, so we're probably going to need all the help we can get to break it!"

Everyone in the room appeared to be genuinely intrigued and enthusiastic about the game. As everyone was forming into a single-file line, Emilia approached Subaru at the front of the line, looking expectant. 

"Do you like it, Subaru? I tried to make it look like Puck," Emilia smiled softly, her eyes searching his for approval. Yep, that sculpture was supposed to resemble the absent spirit cat, Puck. He should have known. Subaru wanted to sigh, but instead he flashed her a big smile and gave her a thumbs up.

"Emilia-tan, anything you create is a masterpiece to my eyes!" Subaru replied. 

"Somehow, I feel like you're teasing me again," Emilia pouted. "Anyway, are you ready? You're going first, yeah?"

With that, Subaru tightened his grip on the broom. "Yeah! I'm ready! Although..."

Subaru gave a polite bow to the hanging Puck-shaped ice sculpture.

"I'm sorry in advance for hitting you like this, Emilia's Father! I humbly ask for your forgiveness!"

"Geez, Subaru, you dummy," Emilia sighed. 

And so, the game of Hit the Piñata began. As expected, Subaru's three hits did absolutely nothing. Next was Petra (no effect) , then Otto (no effect), and Frederica, who was able to make the first dent. Next up was Roswaal, which caused Subaru to quickly interject a new rule of "No magic or transformations! That's cheating!" Roswaal's physical strength alone was able to knock a huge dent to Puck's side. Next was Ram, who added to Frederica's original dent. After Ram, it was Garfiel who busted the thing right open in two clean halves on his first swing, breaking the broom into splintered pieces as well. Wrapped candies rained upon the floor as they all stared in wonder. Beatrice, the sweets lover, was especially happy to see the results of everyone's efforts. Subaru took delight is seeing her face light up. He was going to have to record this reaction in that growth diary of his. 

With the game over, the maids retired to bring out the dinner they had prepared. Everyone found a seat at the dining table, chatting merrily, eating an assortment of steamed tatoes, roasted meat, and seasoned vegetables from the manor's own garden. After dinner, the maids brought out freshly-brewed tea to enjoy with the cake. Subaru, having no sense of shame or embarrassment, decided to teach the birthday song to everyone in the room so that they could sing it to him as they brought out the cake. Subaru took joy in hearing everyone's singing, even the tone-deaf Emilia. Subaru was so happy that he could probably cry. He had to constantly remind himself that it was okay to let them shower him with this kind of love and happiness. That yes, there were people in this room that cared enough about him to remember his birthday and throw him a little party like this. The whole self-love thing was still a big work in progress for Subaru, but this was a good start.

So, with that thought in mind, Subaru excused himself after dinner and cake to go to the manor's stables. There was still a very special girl he hadn't seen yet, and the sun was already down.

\---

The first thing to greet Subaru as he entered the ground dragon stables was Patrasche's fierce tail whip. 

Subaru cried in pain, hugging his arms around his right knee, where he was hit. The ground dragon roared and huffed dramatically, craning her neck away from him.

"Patrasche, I'm sorry, okay? I know you're mad at me," Subaru moaned, still in pain. "Maybe I'm better at communicating with you now? I seem to get the feeling you're telling me 'Idiot, I waited all day for you, you should have seen me first!' Well I'm sorry that the rain was so bad this morning! I didn't want to get you all muddy..."

Patrasche, still keeping her distance, huffed again, as if to say 'I would have gotten myself muddy for you.' She wagged her raised tail, considering whipping him again. Subaru instantly flinched in fear. Seeing this reaction brought satisfaction to the prideful ground dragon, so she lifted down her tail and licked Subaru roughly on his cheek, forgiving him. 

"Thank you, girl," crooned Subaru, petting her scales. "Now, let's become the wind together tonight and run around the stables!"

The ground dragon roared in agreement, bending her neck to allow her master to undo the ties around her stable. 

For the next hour or two, Subaru's yelling and Patrache's thumping feet could be heard throughout the manor's property.

As Subaru was having his evening bonding time with his beloved, loyal heroine, another event was happening at the same time with the other ladies of the manor.

\--

-

-

"What a noisy person, I suppose," grumbled an annoyed Beatrice. 

"I agree that he can be loud, but I think his interactions with Patrasche-chan are reeeaallly sweet," replied Emilia, staring out the window. Emilia, Beatrice, Petra, Frederica, Ram, and the sleeping Rem were all gathered in Rem's guest room, dressed in their pajamas. This was an impromptu "girl's only" sleepover. At dinner, Subaru had talked about what birthday parties were like for him as a kid, and he mentioned that birthday parties often led to sleep-overs, so Emilia wanted to try it. Not having having many friends before, this sounded fun to her. So they all gathered in Rem's room, bringing in pillows and their leftover snacks and candies to sit on the floor in a circle, gossiping and sharing stories. There was so much liveliness in Rem's room; it was like a breath of fresh air to have this many people inhabit this small room.

"I hope Rem-san doesn't mind us," Emilia started, glancing at the sleeping girl. "Now that I think about it, Subaru visits her in here around this time, right? I wonder if he'll stop by soon..."

"Betty senses that her contractor is close by, I suppose."

"Ah, somehow, I don't think Rem-san would kick us out or anything," Frederica replied. "Subaru-sama has mentioned before how kind of a girl she is. I choose to believe his words."

"Onee-sama is right," Petra nodded, hugging her pillow to her chest. "I mean, Rem-san had to have been really kind to put up with Subaru -I mean Subara-sama- so much, so she's probably enjoying this getaway time with us, too!"

"What good could that girl have possibly seen in him?" Ram mumbled, slapping a hand to her forehead. 

"Ah, onee-sama! Its nice to hear you think so highly of me in my absence!" yelled Subaru from outside Rem's bedroom door.

"!!"

"Um, so can I come in? It sounds like there are a bunch of girls in there..."

"..."

"No? Okay, I'll come back later. Man, my imagination is going wild right now..."

The girls inside all stared at the door, in some kind of panic. It wasn't like they weren't fully dressed or something. The first to speak up was Beatrice.

"I'll let him in, I suppose. Its late and I need to sap out his mana before he explodes, in fact."

"Nice assist, Beako! Now I get to see Emilia-tan in Sleepover PJ Style and---ooof!"

As Beatrice opened the door to let him in, Ram had gotten up to knee Subaru in the stomach, seemingly on her way out. Unbeknownst to them, it was time for her to see Roswaal for her usual horn mana treatment. Just before she walked away, she curtly bowed to everyone in the room to excuse herself. She also couldn't take any more of being in the same room as her forgotten sister. If she stared at her face too long, it made her mind fuzzy as her brain desperately would try to search for non-existent pieces of the blue-haired girl in her memories. It hurt too much. 

Subaru, having not just the wind knocked out of him, but also being kicked in a truly delicate place, dropped to his knees in pure agony at the door, keeping his head down to hide the pain. There were literal tears in the man's eyes.

"Subaru, are you ok?!" Emilia gasped, earnestly worried for her knight. 

"I'm fine!" squeaked Subaru. "Just Onee-sama being friendly! Nothing to worry about!"

"Somehow, I don't think Ram-san was being friendly..."

\---

-

-

Not too long after that, once the girls had returned to chatting normally and Subaru was able to stand up, he walked over to the side of Rem's bed to squeeze her hand. Beatrice excused herself from the floor, getting up to stand by Subaru's side, linking her hand with his unoccupied one. Subaru stared at Rem's face and sighed, then looked down at Beatrice, squeezing her hand too. 

Emilia watched this exchange, and somehow wished she hadn't. She understood what was happening. Beatrice was draining the leftover mana from his gate as she squeezed his hand. The way Subaru returned his gaze toward Beatrice...it clearly resembled the understanding looks that Emilia and Puck would give each other. Spirit and Contractor. It felt kind of...intimate, so Emilia immediately looked away, returning to chatting with Frederica and Petra. After about half an hour, Subaru announced that he was going to head to bed, wishing the girls a fun time and a good night. They all said their farewells and a final 'happy birthday' to him, and he was gone.

Beatrice returned to her spot on the floor, placing a pillow to her chest. She looked quite exhausted. Even though Beatrice wasn't a little girl, Emilia got the feeling she still had to go to bed early to conserve her mana. Puck had to go to bed early, too. 

"Beatrice-chan, you can rest your head on my lap," whispered Emilia, noticing the spirit's head bobbing, fighting sleep. "Its ok, Subaru says its comfy," she reassured, gently placing her head onto her lap. "I still want to stay up and talk. There's some things I want to ask Frederica-san and Petra-chan."

"Eh, whatever could it be?" Frederica smiled. "If I can be helpful to you at all, then allow me to, Emilia-sama."

"M-Me too?" Petra replied, a little shocked.

Emilia gathered her thoughts for a minute, the only sound coming from a softly-breathing Rem and Beatrice, both resting peacefully. Emilia gently stroked Beatrice's hair in her lap.

"Well...I haven't had the chance to talk about this yet. Actually, its reeeaally embarrassing, so I hope you'll forgive my messy way of saying this...but..."

Suddenly, Emilia's cheeks and ears blushed pink. She squeezed her eyes shut, doing her best not to take out her frustration onto the sleeping Beatrice's head. 

"So! Subaru and Otto said some things this morning, and they both seemed to think that Frederica-san had already talked to me about some certain things. So! Um. I'm just going to say it. Subaru....Back in the Sanctuary, before I passed the trials there...We had a biiiiig fight. Umm. And then. He...kissed me. He kissed me. And I thought I was pregnant because of it. I thought kissing was what made a baby. So um. Please tell me. How was I wrong? How are babies made?"

"..."

"..."

Petra was blushing. Emilia was blushing. Frederica was not. Her expression looked quite serious, even concerned, pressing a hand to her mouth in thought.

"I see," Frederica replied, quite calmly. "I see. I need to talk about _that_. Petra-chan, have your parents taught you this? You seem quite mature for someone your age."

'Y-Yes, my parents taught me," Petra sighed. Emilia couldn't help but think Petra looked...mad? Disappointed? Older beyond her years?

"Then I shall begin," said Frederica, closing her eyes, pressing her hands into her lap. "Kissing does not make babies. That is correct. Rest assured, you are not pregnant. There is no baby."

Emilia sighed in relief. She was just happy to get that off her chest. 

"So here is the truth. Surely, you have noticed that males have a different organ between their legs, correct? For example, just awhile ago, Ram-san had kicked Subaru in that area, correct? And he was very much in pain, though I think he was doing his best not to show you..."

"R-right," Emilia nodded. 

"That organ between the legs is involved in making babies," continued Frederica. "I'm trying to put this delicately. The only way to make a baby is when those two organs meet."

"Okay, I think I understand. Thank you," replied Emilia. "Just one last question, then. Umm. So. When I went to see if Subaru was awake earlier today, Otto had stopped me in the hallway and insisted that he check up on him instead..."

"Ah, I know where this is going!" Petra interjected, raising her palm in a 'stop' gesture. "Umm, back in Arlam Village, since Meili-chan and I were the only girls in the group of village kids, we had to learn this quite quickly. Umm. Emilia-sama, allow me to whisper in your ear, if that's alright."

"Oh-Okay!" Emilia tensed. Petra crawled over and cusped her hands around Emilia's ear. Once Petra was done whispering, she politely backed away, petting Beatrice's head, trying to downplay the fact that she just said something really embarrassing. Emilia's face flushed pink again from ear to ear, just as before. 

"Eh?!!!"

Emilia clasped her hands to her face, burying herself, not wanting anyone to see her. A hundred years. A hundred years had gone by, and Emilia knew very well that she should have been taught this long, long ago. Why couldn't Fortuna or Geuese have told her? Or Archi, that older brother of hers? Or Puck? Why had no one told her these things?

"So. So. From now on, I need to be more careful," Emilia willed herself to swallow those weird feelings. She wasn't ready to talk anymore about the matter. Her brain felt fuzzy.

"I must admit, I feel quite evil for revealing the truth to you, Emilia-sama," Frederica whispered, smoothing out the wrinkles in her pajama gown. Petra nodded, feeling equally bothered. Petra was good at reading the mood and understanding emotions like this, so she kept quiet about the matter and knew she had to change the subject and provide comfort to Emilia.

And so, the rest of the night was spent chatting about favorite snacks, funny memories, and other things of the sort, all the way until the sun had already risen. The maids had to excuse themselves to start on their morning duties. Emilia felt bad for keeping them up, but she also selfishly felt like last night was a looot of fun. The last time she had pulled an all-nigher like this was when she couldn't sleep because the trials were eating away at her, but her feeling of exhaustion in this case was the complete opposite. She wasn't sure she would do it again anytime soon, but it helped her finally have the time to think through some things.

Being considerate of Frederica and Petra, Emilia had approached Ram to politely help them with their daily chores a little more than usual since they had gotten very little sleep. Ram didn't complain, though she did look like she was scheming something.

Not too much longer after that conversation with Ram, Emilia heard a complaining Subaru yelling as he mopped the floors in the hallways. 

"Damn it, Onee-sama! I'm not a worker of the mansion anymore! I thought I was passed that stage?! And yesterday was my birthday too, ya know?!"

Emilia chuckled a little to herself. It was a cruel way to think, but Emilia thought 'this is what you get for not correcting me sooner!'

-

-


	7. Mission: Find Subaru!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Subaru gets lost in the woods. Beatrice and Patrasche team up to go on a search to find him. Featuring: Parkour!Subaru!
> 
> This idea was taken (with permission) from a reddit user Demon_Maid, who wanted a fic about "the adventures of Beatrice and Patrasche without Subaru" :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would say this is somewhere right before the start of arc 5
> 
> *Arc 4 Spoilers*

-

Subaru still wasn't quite familiar with the new Mathers mansion. The layout was similar enough, but the size of the manor was even more uncomfortably huge than the last place (seriously, the elaborate bath tubs were the size of a pool!) This property was also surrounded by an abundance of natural woods, but there wasn't a close-by village like Arlam. There weren't any small local kids to bother Subaru, which was both a huge relief but also kind of disappointing. The point was, the differences were big enough to ponder about when Subaru couldn't think of anything else. 

Thinking and pondering about random things was one of Subaru's past-times at this point. In another life, he could have used his knowledge of the 21st century to invent a bunch of stuff, become a merchant, and get rich. Maybe. Or maybe not. This world certainly didn't seem to bestow upon him any luck or mercy. 

Speaking of his rotten relationship with fate, the majority of his 'thinking time' came at night, when he couldn't sleep, which was most nights. Subaru was really good at waking up right away, but falling asleep had always been a struggle. Especially now, in this new world, after all this time. When he would close his eyes, he couldn't just see darkness anymore. Instead, there was always some kind of terrible regret or past death playing behind his shut eye lids. Thoughts. There were always thoughts to keep him company. Relentlessly. So, in Subaru fashion, he did whatever he could to keep his hands busy, so that he wouldn't think too much. 

Subaru's recent thought-distracting activity was to go all-out in practicing parkour and dreaming up a kick-ass obstacle course on the outskirts of the forest surrounding the manor. Garfiel was proving to be quite a good construction man, knocking down trees and building things with rocks and wood. Subaru even managed to get Garfiel to construct a vaulting horse and had landscaped some mounds of dirt to make some inclines that included wooden ramps. All in the name of parkour. 

Subaru really enjoyed parkour. He sucked at it, but it was fun, and it was a great way to challenge his critical thinking skills. Parkour was just as much a mental activity as it was a physical one. It required him to use the capabilities of his own body to his advantage, and he had to think on his feet. With parkour, Subaru couldn't plan his actions too far ahead or think about the future. Parkour was about the present and acting in the moment. Dwelling on the past or regretting the last action in the sequence of movements was extremely hard for Subaru to let go of, but it was just the challenge that he needed. He was thankful to that weirdo butler Clind for introducing him to the basics.

In today's daily parkour excursion, Subaru had decided he wanted to practice wall-jumping, simply because he thought it looked really cool. It involved being between two high walls that were close enough together for a body to stretch the legs to reach the other wall. Using momentum from the foot pressing into the wall, one could essentially climb up the walls and get to the top. Subaru figured he had the basics down enough at this point to be able to save himself if needed. The good old 'land and roll' was his big lifesaver, though he did often roll his ankle or land too harshly on his knees. Beatrice or Emilia could heal those kinds of injuries just fine. 

It was a beautiful spring morning. The air was still crisp and cold enough to need to wear his track jacket, but by the afternoon, it was warm enough to take it off. Subaru did his usual stretching out in the mansion's front courtyard, and then proceeded into a light jog, making his way towards the forest. In the not-too-far distance, Subaru could make out some tall hills. Maybe, just maybe, he could find an indent in the walls of the hills to try out wall jumping. Without having much of a plan besides that, Subaru continued jogging in the direction of the hills. If tree branches or bushes got in his way, he would hurdle jump over them, building up his momentum. 

Subaru had built up enough momentum to break out into a sweat, extending his legs out into a long run. Panting harshly, ignoring the aches developing in his calves and shins, he continued his dash in the woods. His ears started to go numb as the cold air breezed past him. The high rock walls of the hills were in his sight. There it was! This was it. Just run up to the wall, press a foot into it, then turn to the wall across from it and repeat. 

It was working! Dig foot into wall, jump. Dig foot into opposite wall, jump. Leap. Leap. Leap. Leap. 

The top of the hill was within arm's length. All Subaru had to do was leap one more time and grip the edge of the hilltop. He could do this. He could do this. He could-

His fingertips didn't make contact with the edge. Just like that, Subaru was falling, falling, falling. Plan failed. Abort. Go to Plan B. In the two seconds Subaru had to think, he knew he would have to land and roll.

Subaru felt his body make contact with the ground beneath him. He managed to tuck his arms over his head and start rolling. Roll roll, roll. 

Why was his body still rolling? It felt like he was rolling down a rather steep incline. Was this always here? He started panicking, squeezing his eyes shut and keeping his arms over his head. The next thing he knew, a large tree trunk abruptly made contact with the back of his head.

His body betrayed him. He was out.

\---

-

The morning was quite peaceful, Beatrice thought. When she woke up, Subaru wasn't in the bedroom she shared with him. She could feel her contractor's presence, so she figured he was okay. Probably. Subaru often woke up before her, so it wasn't a big deal that he wasn't there. 

Because the mansion was so large, it took longer for Beatrice to get to places with her petite frame and short legs. Without really being aware of it until now, she had grown accostomed to being carried by Subaru just to get around faster. It was embarrassing at first, being piggy-backed or bridal-carried around by him. But he told her it didn't bother him, and the dumb expression on his face when he told her that had seemed to genuinely express that. 

Still. Now it was starting to feel weird, not having him close by. A feeling of unease started to seep in. Beatrice had already checked the dining hall, the kitchen, the bath rooms, Rem's room, the maid's quarters...

"Arrrgghhh!"

A frustrated groan could be heard in the hallway that Beatrice was currently in. Without a doubt, the voice belonged to the over-worked new-hire of the Emilia camp, Otto.

Beatrice peeked her head into the office room that the gray-haired man was in. He was hunched over his desk, clenching his head as if he had an unbearable head ache. There were stacks and stacks of papers in front of him. When Beatrice stepped into the room, some of the papers fluttered about. Otto lifted his head up. The expression on his face changed from pain to shock to relief.

"Oh thank goodness, Beatrice-chan!" Otto sighed. "Eh? Natsuki-san isn't with you? Well, uh. If you see him, could you please tell him to do something about his ground dragon? I keep hearing Patrasche-chan roaring and thrashing about out in the stables. I can hear her crying from up here. Its unbearable! I'd go there myself, but I'm locked up here with all of this..."

Beatrice nodded her head, crossing her arms. "Betty knows where her contractor is hiding, I suppose." This was a lie, of course. But Beatrice was a proud spirit. "Betty will summon him right away so that his ground dragon can rightly punish him, I suppose."

"Ah, thank you, Beatrice-chan! I leave it up to you!"

With another nod, Beatrice unfolded her arms and immediately left the office. She started walking as fast as she could in the direction of the stables, making her way outside.

The stables! Why hadn't she thought of that? Beatrice had met the ground dragon before, of course. They were acquainted. The last time Subaru had taken her to visit the stables, Beatrice had recalled feeling those golden eyes staring at her the entire time. She would have thought the dragon's stare seemed menacing, but she knew enough about the Diana species of land dragons to know that wasn't the case. Dragons like Patracshe were a proud bunch that had to develop a trust first before they could warm up to you. There was something especially prideful about Subaru's dragon. Beatrice easily understood that the black dragon loved him. 

Otto was right. As soon as Beatrice was outside the mansion, she could hear the dragon screeching and wailing in the distance. She sounded in pain.

As soon as she entered the stables, Patrasche immediately locked eyes with her and started thrashing about, breathing heavily. The black dragon kept craning her neck over to her right side, pointing her snout in the direction of the forest. Beatrice calmly walked up towards her, carefully extending her right hand out. 

Patrasche stared at Beatrice, trying to decide if she could trust the spirit or not. Her golden eyes met with the other's butterfly-pupiled eyes, searching her very soul for something. Beatrice stayed where she was, keeping her hand out. Patrasche had stopped all motion, sniffing the air around them.

"You know where he is, don't you? You can smell him quite well, I suppose," Beatrice started. The dragon continued to sniff the air. "Betty has a way of smelling him too, though admittedly, his Scent of the Witch has been very dull for the past year now, I wonder."

It was at that moment that Patrasche had seemingly made her decision. She craned her neck towards Beatrice, sniffed her hand, and then licked her palm. 

"Yes, Betty promises you these hands will heal him should something have happened to him. He's Betty's contractor after all, I suppose."

Patrasche licked her palm again, wagged her tail, and bowed her head down so that Beatrice could untie the restraints that bound her to her stable. As soon as she was freed, Patrasche let out another roar and swung her tail in such a way that it swooped up Beatrice from her behind and ungracefully flung her onto the dragon's back saddle. Beatrice yelped, immediately clinging onto the reigns, holding on for dear life. With a slightly panicked "L-Let's go find that idiot, I suppose!" the girls were off, dashing towards the forest.

Patrasche really was a fast one. It was no wonder why Subaru had enjoyed riding with her. Beatrice wouldn't admit it, but riding on her back was quite exhilarating. Honestly, she wasn't sure the dragon would ever allow her to ride on her. There was too much love, loyalty, pride, and stubbornness there. Beatrice felt she should probably thank her, although she was equally prideful and stubborn, so she wouldn't. 

Even as fast as Patrasche was running, it still took close to an hour of dashing through the forest to get to where Subaru was. How the heck did he get this far out into the woods on his two feet? The girls had to jump over several obstacles. Some natural, some man-made. 

"!!!"

When the land dragon finally came to a stop, the girls gasped in terror at the sight before them.

Subaru's body was crumpled up on his side, next to a large tree trunk. His foot was bent at an odd angle from his ankle, and there was a large bump protruding from the back of his head. He was unconscious. 

Beatrice rushed over as fast as she could, kneeling by Subaru's head. She stretched out her palm to the back of his head first, sighing in relief when she felt that it wasn't a concussion. His eyes began to flutter open just as Beatrice had moved on to healing his sprained ankle. 

"Pat...rasche?" Subaru groaned, waking up to the land dragon licking his face. "Ah, you found me. Thanks, girl," he crooned, rubbing her snout affectionately.

Beatrice was immediately perturbed by the fact that Subaru had called out to Patrasche first. 

"Hmph!" pouted Beatrice, suddenly halting her healing to cross her arms in disappointment. "Betty is here too, you know! Betty will just leave your sprained ankle half-healed like this, I suppose!"

"Whoa, its Beako!" Subaru exclaimed. His face immediately lit up into a smile, propped himself up from the ground, and wrapped his arms around Beatrice in a tight bear hug. "Thank you, Beako! I owe you my life! You know I would be so lost without you and--"

With Beatrice still wriggling beneath his embrace, Subaru paused and rested his chin on the top of her head.

"Hey, Beako...speaking of being lost...Do you happen to know our way back to the mansion?"

Gulp.

"...Betty does not know where we are, in fact."

"How do you not know?!! Aren't you supposed to be an old, all-knowing spirit?!!"

"B-Betty is new to this mansion too, in fact! The archive was always at the other mansion, I suppose!! It-Its all thanks to your land dragon that we're here and not l-lost, in fact!!"

"...Beako, did you just say 'thank you' to Patrasche?"

"..."

"..."

"Betty is saying 'thank you' to your land dragon, in fact. We're relying on her to take us back."

Beatrice looked away from both Subaru and Patrasche. 

Patrasche raised her head to the sky, looking ever prideful, wagging her tail.

"Whoa! This is big! I've got to record this to my Beatrice's Growth Diary!" Subaru exclaimed excitedly, jumping to his feet, forgetting about his injury. "Owwww, my ankle!"

"Betty is still not healing that, in fact. Hey Patrasche, kick him down. Aim for the ankle. He has a lesson to learn, I suppose."

Swoosh!

"Owww! Oi, oi, Patrasche!"

And so, a limping Subaru, a stubborn Beatrice, and a prideful Patrasche began the long journey out of the woods back to the mansion.

-

-

-


	8. Ice Brand Arts-Soldier-San!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little Drabble based off of Arc 6 Chapter 84 “Heave-ho! Heave-ho!”  
> Arc 6 spoilers, obviously. Takes place in between Arc 5 and 6.  
> Sorry that its been awhile since I’ve updated this fic! Here, have some fluff!

During Subaru’s many first encounters with Emilia, one of the things that remained constant was observing the amazing ice powers that she had displayed. She was really cool, wasn’t she? Just the kind of heroine that Subaru was attracted to in his anime and video games. Silver-haired, super pretty, magical fairy/elf women were his type. It was a bonus if they had bad-ass powers, too. Needless to say, Emilia ticked all of the boxes.

Emilia could make ice shards appear from the palm of her hand. She could construct weapons made of ice such as hammers and swords and arrows. She could even create something along the lines of ice skates to make her travel faster, and at one point she had fastened some of those ice skates for Subaru, too. So the question was, what couldn’t she do? How could she improve and upgrade to the next level of Magical Girl Emilia-tan greatness? Subaru had some ideas.

”You want me to draw, Subaru?”

”Yes! Drawing is key to being able to have an image in your mind, right? It could help you come up with a new weapon!”

Emilia tilted her head, giving Subaru an unsure look. She had just finished talking to her lesser spirit friends in the gardens of Roswaal’s manor. The grass was plush and green, showing the signs of late spring. A gentle breeze blew her bangs off her forehead. 

“What am I supposed to draw?”

Subaru brushed his own bangs back with a Julius-type gesture, giving Emilia a smug grin.

”I’m glad you asked! Emilia-tan, what is a weapon that any queen would have at her disposal?”

”Umm. I’m not sure where you’re going with this?”

Subaru gave Emilia a small pout, crossing his arms. 

“Come on, just give me a moment to explain, okay? Okay! So! What every queen has at her disposal are her men! She would have soldiers, right? An army doing whatever the queen’s bidding asks them to!”

”Oh! You mean like the Knights of Lugunica, right?”

”Yeah, yeah! But think of them more like...a collective unit of all the same person. Like shadow clones of one loyal, loving individual who would never betray the one he loves and reveres! That way, not one of your men would run off and retreat to an enemy’s camp!”

”Subaru, could you slow down? I don’t understand what a ‘shadow clone’ is...”

Subaru waved a hand in front of his face, a gesture of dismissal.

”Never mind that, its okay. What I’m trying to say is—“

”What he’s trying to say is this stupid-looking boy would like to become an ice sculpture, in fact.”

”Eh? Beako, when did you get here?”

The drill-haired spirit approached from Subaru’s left, instinctively grabbing Subaru’s arm by the hem of his jacket sleeve.

”I heard the gardens fill will your loud voice, I suppose.”

Emilia smiled gently at the sight of Beatrice and Subaru’s exchange. They were as close as ever. She greeted Beatrice with a nod of her head.

”So, Subaru wants me to make something like an...Ice Subaru? Well, I guess I could try. Mmm. Yeah, I think its possible, but...”

Emilia tucked in a hand to her chin, lost in thought. Subaru’s face lit up, shooting Emilia a thumbs-up with one hand while rubbing the top of Beatrice’s head with the other.

“It’s alright! No need to worry! Emilia-tan will surely be able to do it!“

Emilia thought she saw little sparkles in his eyes. He was reeeaally excited over this, wasn’t he? It was hard to deny him when he looked so expectant like that. Like he believed in her. Well, Emilia supposed he really did believe in her. It was because he told her he loved her, right? Right. Emilia nodded, eyes determined.

”Hand me some paper and a quill. I’ll try to get Subaru’s image in my head.”

”Hai, hai! Right away, Emilia-tan!”

With that, Subaru excused himself and ran off to head back into the manor from the garden. Beatrice stayed behind, choosing not to go with Subaru. She was tidying up the top of her head from where Subaru was rubbing it. Beatrice and Emilia both watched the retreating figure’s back run off into the distance.

”Ah, seeing his back right now...His shoulders look a bit more broad, don’t you think?” Emilia mused, a gentle smile still on her face. “Hey Beatrice, can I tell you something?”

Beatrice raised her chin up to stare at the half-elf and nodded calmly.

”Don’t tell Subaru this, but...I think I could probably image an ice Subaru right now. I want to try before he gets back. Would you help me?”

“Ah, you want me to guide you through molding your mana, I suppose? Very well.”

Emilia extended out both of her arms in front of her, as if she was about to conjure up a blade of ice, like she was used to. Closing her ices in concentration, she imagined a solid block of ice in her head. How could she mold it to resemble the form of a person? Should she start with the head, or with the feet? Or should she start with the block part of a torso? Beads of sweat started to gather across her forehead. Mana swirled around the atmosphere, creating a cloud of glittery ice powder surrounding the girls.

Emilia let her mind wonder to Subaru’s image. His frame was thin, overall not that much bigger than her own body. He had short legs. His attire was fairly simple, just a non-tailored jacket and pants without much form to it. He always styled his hair back, so it had little spikes in it. That would be enough of a mental picture to go by, right?

”...”

When Emilia opened her eyes, what greeted her was a look of pure terror on Beatrice’s expression. 

“...Please do kindly destroy that abomination of a man right this instance, I suppose.”

”...Right!”

Embarrassed, Emilia quickly swatted her hands at the ice warrior prototype, destroying it with ease. The body was so incredibly malformed, as if it were a mutilated corpse that had melted into a pile of assembled parts. The only thing that Emilia got right was the head. Without a doubt, Emilia had mastered Subaru’s facial features. Well, it certainly made sense. She stared at his face quite a lot when he wasn’t looking, after all. 

“It appears we really do need to go back to the drawing board, I suppose,” Beatrice sighed. Just then, Subaru could be seen running towards the girls with a bundle of papers and quills in his hands. Once he approached them, he stared at them quizzically.

”Did I miss something? Emilia-tan and Beako are both blushing...”

”No, n-nothing!” Squeaked Emilia, waving her hands in front of her face. “I’m, umm, ready to do some drawing!”

With an exaggerated shout of “yeah!” Emilia had gracefully kicked something into the far distance, like kicking a ball.

Landing in a hidden spot beneath some shrubbery, a well-defined, brilliantly smiling Subaru head made of mana ice could be seen. 


	9. Subaru is a complete dunderhead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little Drabble where Subaru gets sick, featuring Emilia, Rem, and Beatrice post arc 2. Its been awhile since I updated this, whoops~ Have some fluff~

————

Shortly after the incident with the Ulgarm beasts, a blanket of white, powdery snow enveloped the Roswaal mansion and Arlam village. The snow couldn’t be helped, of course. Puck had to clear out some excess mana, and the festivities that came about due to Subaru’s innovative ideas were even enjoyable. It was a way of turning lemons into lemonade, as some would say. Though this world’s equivalent of that phrase was something from a tale of old heroes that Subaru had never heard of.

The day after the snow festival and the dinner party, Subaru had his date with Emilia. The snow had mostly melted, allowing Subaru the opportunity to make mental photographs of Emilia surrounded in a field of flowers. It was so worth it, Subaru thought. The sight of the silver-haired girl against the backdrop of bright pastels and a gently blowing breeze was absolutely breathtaking. The cherry on top was crafting a flower crown and placing it on her head. He could die right then and there and have no regrets. She even allowed him to hold her hand for a bit. 

Unfortunately, Subaru’s moments of bliss never lasted that long. Sure enough, the day following the date, Subaru woke up with a fever and the chills. There had been an abrupt change in temperature within the course of a few days, after all. Any normal person’s body would get affected by such a big change. The body would struggle to maintain its homeostasis. Emilia, of course, was unaffected by the change in temperature. The maids weren’t affected either, since they were strong-blooded oni. Roswaal was fine, Beatrice was her usual self. The only one who developed a cold was the normal, human Subaru. 

It was Rem who had discovered Subaru in such a state. She had entered Subaru’s room to wake him for their morning duties as servants, and was shocked at how much his forehead was burning when she placed the back of her hand against his brow. Without a second thought, Rem acquired a bucket of water and some rags so that she could cool him down as he slept. She quickly re-allotted the chores between her and Ram, wanting Subaru to stay in bed and rest. When Subaru awoke a few hours later, realizing in terror that he overslept and missed out on his morning chores, he promptly got dressed in his butler uniform and dashed out of his room. 

Subaru was well-aware that his body was fighting against him. This was normal for him. His muscles ached, he was sweating all over, the heaviness behind his eyelids made his vision blurry and unfocused. His nose kept leaking, so he kept a handkerchief with him. Compared to dying, this was easy. Subaru could grin and bear this kind of pain and fatigue.

So, while making sure no one saw him, Subaru intentionally went about cleaning areas of the manor that he knew weren’t on the day’s to-do list. He could absolutely not allow himself to get caught by Rem, and especially not Emilia. When he felt overly feverish, he would make trips over to the maid’s kitchen and stick his head in the freezer box for a few minutes. If he wasn’t near the kitchen, he would strip off his outer butler jacket and kneel over on the tiled floor to press his face into the cold stone. When he was ready to get back to work, he would clumsily prop himself up with a broom in his hand and carry on.

Somehow, he managed to clean the entire east wing of the third floor, which included a total of ten large guest rooms, five washrooms, and a spare conference room. Satisfied with his hard work, Subaru was prepared to call it quits, reaching out his hand to turn the handle to a door that led to the east wing’s utility closet. When he opened the door, though, what greeted him wasn’t the sight of cleaning tools.

”Its about time you stopped annoying Betty with all the loud sniffling and coughing noises, I suppose.”

”Eh?!”

“Do you realize how conspicuous you are, I wonder? Your antics drive Betty crazy, I suppose!”

Subaru had found himself entering Beatrice’s library. He wasn’t even looking for her this time. How odd, Subaru thought. Could this mean that Beatrice was the one to seek him out, for once? 

“Why are you smiling like that, I wonder?!”

Subaru had a smug grin on his face, upsetting Beatrice even further. He took a step forward, rubbing his runny nose with his index finger in delight.

”Oho, what’s this? Was Beako worried about me?”

”Why would I be worried, I wonder?! Its more like I’m tired of hearing all your dumb bodily noises echoing throughout this hallway, you sickly human!”

Subaru mischievously wriggled his fingers in the air as he took another step forward, still smirking at the girl who had extended her palm out towards him.

”Its okay, Beako. Come here, and I’ll rub my nose on your frilly dress...heh..”

As if on cue, Subaru’s entire body broke out into a sweat. Was the library always this scorchingly hot? Was the spirit using her dimension-shifting powers to make the room all swirly and blurry around him?

”B-begone, human!”

With that, Beatrice released a blast of mana from her extended palm, blowing Subaru’s weakened body swiftly out of the archive. 

When he opened his eyes to see where the spirit had transported him, Subaru wasn’t sure if he should thank or curse Beatrice. The good news was, he was transported directly in front of the large ice box in the kitchen that he had been frequenting throughout the day. So, he immediately sat up and stuck his head into it, still fighting off the intense heat in his body. The cool air felt incredibly relieving for him. So relieving, in fact, that his body decided to just stay there. His consciousness was slowly fading, forcing an escape from all other thoughts. Gradually, he let go of everything.

————

”Emilia-sama! I found Subaru-kun!”

”Eh? Rem? Mm, right. On my way!”

”!!!”

”...”

In the back of the kitchen, where the ice box that stored their meats was, there lay Subaru’s slouched over form, his head dangling into it, unconscious.

The two people Subaru least wanted to see him like this, were here. The blue-haired maid and the silver-haired heroine rushed over to him, clearly worried for the boy. 

“Rem knew he was sick...Rem knew he would still try to push himself and should have kept a closer eye on Subaru-kun. My apologies, Emilia-sama...”

Emilia sighed, tenderly pulling the sweating, feverish Subaru into her arms. 

“...Subaru, you complete dunderhead...”

With that, the boy was carried to his room without another word. Rem and Emilia decided to swap turns watching over him as he recovered, afraid he would get up again if was left on his own.

Later that night, sniffling and sneezing could be heard from within the hidden library.

“Ah-choo! That dumb human, I suppo—achoo!”

—————


End file.
